Good morning,
everybody. It -- It is wonderful to see all of you, and I want to thank
everybody who is here. I think there's only one problem, and that is
that my remarks are not sitting here.

People! Things...by Friday afternoon,
things get a little challenged.

Question:
Will you answer a question in the --

President
Obama: I'm going to have a -- I'm going to answer a question at the end
of the remarks, but I want to make sure that we get the remarks out.
People! Oh, goodness. Oh, somebody is tripping. Folks are sweating
back there right now.

Well, good morning
everybody. This afternoon, I'm going to be in Southern California to
meet with President Xi of China. But before I leave Northern
California, I wanted to take a minute to address something that’s
happening with the Affordable Care Act in this state, and I wanted to
meet with a group of people who are doing some very important work on
behalf of California’s middle-class families.

These
leaders from California’s government, the California Endowment, and
major Spanish language media outlets have joined together to help
implement the Affordable Care Act here in California and to educate
folks about how to sign up and shop for quality, affordable plans. And
their efforts have already shown some excellent results in the biggest
insurance market in the country.

There are
two main things that Americans need to know when it comes to the
Affordable Care Act and what it means for you.

First of
all, if you’re one of the nearly 85 percent of Americans who already
have insurance, either through Medicare or Medicaid or your employer,
you don’t have to do a thing. You’ve just got a wide array of new
benefits, better protections and stronger cost controls that you didn’t
have before, and that will, over time, improve the quality of the
insurance that you've got; benefits like free preventive care --
checkups, flu shots, mammograms and contraception.

You are now
going to be able to get those things through your insurance where they
previously were not -- didn’t have to be provided. Protections like
allowing people up to the age of 26 to stay on their parent's health
care plans, which has already helped 6 million Americans, including [1
million] young Latino Americans.

Cost
controls like requiring insurance companies to spend at least 80 percent
of the money that you pay in premiums in your actual health care costs,
as opposed to administrative costs or CEO pay -- not overhead, but that
money has to be spent on you. And if they don’t meet that target, they
actually have to reimburse you. So in California, we’re already getting
reports that insurers are giving rebates to consumers and small business
owners to the tune of $45 million this year. So already we're seeing
millions of dollars of rebates sent back to consumers by insurance
companies as a consequence of this law.

All of that
is happening because of the Affordable Care Act. All of this is in
place right now, already, for 85 percent of Americans who have health
insurance. By the way, all of this is what the Republican Party has now
voted 37 times to repeal, at least in the House of Representatives. And
my suggestion to them has been, let's stop refighting the old battles
and start working with people like the leaders who are on stage here
today to make this law work the way it’s supposed to.

We’re
focused on moving forward and making sure that this law works for
middle-class families. And that brings me to the second thing that
people need to know about the Affordable Care Act.

If you’re
one of nearly 6 million Californians or tens of millions of Americans
who don’t currently have health insurance, you’ll soon be able to buy
quality, affordable care just like everybody else.

And here’s
how. States like California are setting up new, online marketplaces
where, beginning on October 1st of this year, you can comparison shop an
array of private health insurance plans side-by-side, just like you were
going online to compare cars or airline tickets. And that means
insurance companies will actually have to compete with each other for
your business. And that means new choices.

See, right
now, most states don’t have a lot of competition. In nearly every
state, more than half of all consumers are covered by only two
insurers. So there’s no incentive to provide you a lot of choices or to
keep costs down. The Affordable Care Act changes that.

Beginning
next year, once these marketplaces are open, most states will offer new
private insurance choices that don’t exist today. And based on early
reports, about 9 in 10 Americans expected to enroll in these
marketplaces live in states where they’ll be able to choose between five
or more different insurers. So for example, here in California, 33
insurers applied to join the marketplace. Covered California then
selected 13 based on access, quality, and affordability, four of which
are brand new to your individual market.

So what’s
happening is through the Affordable Care Act, we’re creating these
marketplaces with more competition, more choice, and so the question is,
what happens to cost?

Now, a lot
of the opponents of the Affordable Care Act, they had all kinds of
sky-is-falling, doom-and-gloom predictions that not only would the law
fail, but what we’d also is costs would skyrocket for everybody. Well,
it turns out we’re actually seeing that in the states that have
committed themselves to implementing this law correctly, we’re seeing
some good news. Competition and choice are pushing down costs in the
individual market just like the law was designed to do.

The 13
insurance companies that were chosen by Covered California have unveiled
premiums that were lower than anybody expected. And those who can’t
afford to buy private insurance will get help reducing their
out-of-pocket premiums even further with the largest health care tax cut
for working families and small businesses in our history. So about 2.6
million Californians -- nearly half of whom are Latinos -- will qualify
for tax credits that will, in some cases, lower their premiums a
significant amount.

Now, none
of this is a surprise. This is the way that the law was designed to
work. But since everybody has been saying how it's not going to happen,
I think it's important for us to recognize and acknowledge this is
working the way it's supposed to. We've seen similar good news, by the
way, not just here in California but in Oregon and Washington. In
states that are working hard to implement this law properly, we're
seeing it work for people -- for middle-class families, for consumers.

Now, that's
not to say that everything is going to go perfectly right away. When
you're implementing a program this large, there will be some glitches.
There are going to be some hiccups. But no matter what, every single
consumer will be covered by the new benefits and protections under this
law permanently.

So the
bottom line is you can listen to a bunch of political talk out there --
negative ads and fear mongering geared towards the next election -- or
alternatively you can actually look at what’s happening in states like
California right now. And the fact of the matter is through these
exchanges, not only are the 85 percent of people who already have health
insurance getting better protections, and receiving rebates, and being
able to keep their kids on their health insurance until they're 26, and
getting free preventive care, but if you don't have health insurance and
you're trying to get it through the individual market and it's too
expensive or it's too restricted, you now have these marketplaces where
they're going to offer you a better deal because of choice and
competition.

And if even
at those lower rates and better insurance that you're getting through
these marketplaces you still can't afford it, you're going to be getting
tax cuts and tax credits through the Affordable Care Act that will help
you afford it. And that's how we're going to make sure that millions of
people who don't currently have health insurance or are getting a really
bad deal on their health insurance are finally going to get it.

But -- and
here's my final point -- to take advantage of these marketplaces, folks
are going to need to sign up. So you can find out how to sign up at
HealthCare.gov,
or here in California you can sign up at CoveredCA.com. Because quality care is
not something that should be a privilege, it should be a right. In the
greatest country on Earth, we've got to make sure that every single
person that needs health care can get it. And we've got to make sure
that we do it in the most efficient way possible.

One last
point I'm going to make on this, because there are a lot of people who
currently get health insurance through their employers -- the 85 percent
who are already out there -- and they may be saying, well, if this law
is so great, why is it that my premium still went up? Well, part of
what's happening across the country is in some cases, for example,
employers may be shifting more costs through higher premiums or higher
deductibles or higher copays, and so there may still be folks who are
out there feeling increased costs not because of the Affordable Care Act
but because those costs are being passed on to workers or insurance
companies, in some cases. Even with these laws in place, they're still
jacking up prices unnecessarily.

So this
doesn't solve the whole problem, but it moves us in the right
direction. It’s also the reason why we have to keep on implementing
changes in how our health care system works to continually drive better
efficiency, higher quality, lower cost. We’re starting to do that.
Health care cost inflation has gone up at the lowest rate over the last
three years that we’ve seen in many, many years. So we’re making
progress in actually reducing overall health care costs while improving
quality, but we’re going to have to continue to push on that front as
well. That's also part of what we’re doing in the Affordable Care Act.

But the
main message I want for Californians and people all across the country
-- starting on October 1st, if you’re in the individual market, you can
get a better deal. If you’re a small business that's providing health
insurance to your employees, you can get a better deal through these
exchanges. You’ve got to sign up: HealthCare.gov, or here in
California at CoveredCA.com.

All right?
So thank you very much.

Question:
Mr. President?

President
Obama: I’m going to take one question. And then, remember, people are
going to have opportunities to also -- answer questions when I’m with
the Chinese President today. So I don't want the whole day to just be a
bleeding press conference. But I’m going to take Jackie Calmes’
question.

Question:
Mr. President, could you please react to the reports of secret
government surveillance of phones and Internet? And can you also assure
Americans that the government -- your government doesn't have some
massive secret database of all their personal online information and
activities?

President
Obama: Yes. When I came into this office, I made two commitments that
are more important than any commitment I made: Number one, to keep the
American people safe; and number two, to uphold the Constitution. And
that includes what I consider to be a constitutional right to privacy
and an observance of civil liberties.

Now, the
programs that have been discussed over the last couple days in the press
are secret in the sense that they're classified. But they're not secret
in the sense that when it comes to telephone calls, every member of
Congress has been briefed on this program. With respect to all these
programs, the relevant intelligence committees are fully briefed on
these programs. These are programs that have been authorized by broad
bipartisan majorities repeatedly since 2006.

And so, I
think at the outset, it's important to understand that your duly elected
representatives have been consistently informed on exactly what we're
doing. Now, let me take the two issues separately.

When it
comes to telephone calls, nobody is listening to your telephone calls.
That’s not what this program is about. As was indicated, what the
intelligence community is doing is looking at phone numbers and
durations of calls. They are not looking at people's names, and they're
not looking at content. But by sifting through this so-called metadata,
they may identify potential leads with respect to folks who might engage
in terrorism. If these folks -- if the intelligence community then
actually wants to listen to a phone call, they've got to go back to a
federal judge, just like they would in a criminal investigation.

So I want
to be very clear -- some of the hype that we've been hearing over the
last day or so -- nobody is listening to the content of people's phone
calls. This program, by the way, is fully overseen not just by
Congress, but by the FISA Court -- a court specially put together to
evaluate classified programs to make sure that the executive branch, or
government generally, is not abusing them, and that it's being carried
out consistent with the Constitution and rule of law.

And so, not
only does that court authorize the initial gathering of data, but -- I
want to repeat -- if anybody in government wanted to go further than
just that top-line data and want to, for example, listen to Jackie
Calmes' phone call, they would have to go back to a federal judge and
indicate why, in fact, they were doing further probing.

Now, with
respect to the Internet and emails -- this does not apply to U.S.
citizens and it does not apply to people living in the United States.
And again, in this instance, not only is Congress fully apprised of it,
but what is also true is that the FISA Court has to authorize it.

So in
summary, what you've got is two programs that were originally authorized
by Congress, have been repeatedly authorized by Congress, bipartisan
majorities have approved on them, Congress is continually briefed on how
these are conducted. There are a whole range of safeguards involved,
and federal judges are overseeing the entire program throughout. We're
also setting up -- We've also set up an audit process, when I came into
office, to make sure that we're, after the fact, making absolutely
certain that all the safeguards are being properly observed.

Now, having
said all that, you'll remember when I made that
speech a couple of weeks
ago about the need for us to shift out of a perpetual war mindset, I
specifically said that one of the things that we're going to have to
discuss and debate is how are we striking this balance between the need
to keep the American people safe and our concerns about privacy?
Because there are some tradeoffs involved.

I welcome
this debate. And I think it's healthy for our democracy. I think it's
a sign of maturity, because probably five years ago, six years ago, we
might not have been having this debate. And I think it's interesting
that there are some folks on the left but also some folks on the right
who are now worried about it who weren't very worried about it when
there was a Republican President. I think that's good that we're having
this discussion.

But I think
it's important for everybody to understand -- and I think the American
people understand -- that there are some tradeoffs involved. I came in
with a healthy skepticism about these programs. My team evaluated
them. We scrubbed them thoroughly. We actually expanded some of the
oversight, increased some of safeguards. But my assessment and my
team's assessment was that they help us prevent terrorist attacks. And
the modest encroachments on the privacy that are involved in getting
phone numbers or duration without a name attached and not looking at
content, that on net, it was worth us doing. Some other folks may have
a different assessment on that.

But I think
it's important to recognize that you can't have 100 percent security and
also then have 100 percent privacy and zero inconvenience. We're going
to have to make some choices as a society. And what I can say is that
in evaluating these programs, they make a difference in our capacity to
anticipate and prevent possible terrorist activity. And the fact that
they’re under very strict supervision by all three branches of
government and that they do not involve listening to people's phone
calls, do not involve reading the emails of U.S. citizens or U.S.
residents absent further action by a federal court that is entirely
consistent with what we would do, for example, in a criminal
investigation -- I think on balance, we have established a process and a
procedure that the American people should feel comfortable about.

But, again,
these programs are subject to congressional oversight and congressional
reauthorization and congressional debate. And if there are members of
Congress who feel differently, then they should speak up. And we're
happy to have that debate.

Okay? All
right. And we'll have a chance to talk further over the course of the
next couple of days.

Question:
Do you welcome the leaks, sir? Do you welcome the leaks? Do you
welcome the debate?

President
Obama: I don't welcome leaks, because there's a reason why these
programs are classified. I think that there is a suggestion that
somehow any classified program is a "secret" program, which means it's
somehow suspicious.

The fact of
the matter is in our modern history, there are a whole range of programs
that have been classified because -- when it comes to, for example,
fighting terror, our goal is to stop folks from doing us harm. And if
every step that we’re taking to try to prevent a terrorist act is on the
front page of the newspapers or on television, then presumably the
people who are trying to do us harm are going to be able to get around
our preventive measures. That's why these things are classified.

But that's
also why we set up congressional oversight. These are the folks you all
vote for as your representatives in Congress, and they're being fully
briefed on these programs. And if, in fact, there was -- there were
abuses taking place, presumably those members of Congress could raise
those issues very aggressively. They're empowered to do so.

We also
have federal judges that we put in place who are not subject to
political pressure. They’ve got lifetime tenure as federal judges, and
they're empowered to look over our shoulder at the executive branch to
make sure that these programs aren’t being abused.

So we have
a system in which some information is classified, and we have a system
of checks and balances to make sure that it’s not abused. And if, in
fact, this information ends up just being dumped out willy-nilly without
regard to risks to the program, risks to the people involved -- in some
cases, on other leaks, risks to personnel in a very dangerous situation
-- then it’s very hard for us to be as effective in protecting the
American people.

That's not
to suggest that you just say, trust me; we’re doing the right thing; we
know who the bad guys are. And the reason that's not how it works is
because we’ve got congressional oversight and judicial oversight. And
if people can't trust not only the executive branch but also don't trust
Congress and don't trust federal judges to make sure that we’re abiding
by the Constitution, due process and rule of law, then we’re going to
have some problems here.

But my
observation is, is that the people who are involved in America’s
national security, they take this work very seriously. They cherish our
Constitution. The last thing they’d be doing is taking programs like
this to listen to somebody’s phone calls.

And by the
way, with respect to my concerns about privacy issues, I will leave this
office at some point, sometime in the last -- next three and a half
years, and after that, I will be a private citizen. And I suspect that,
on a list of people who might be targeted so that somebody could read
their emails or listen to their phone calls, I'd probably be pretty high
on that list. It's not as if I don't have a personal interest in making
sure my privacy is protected.

But I know
that the people who are involved in these programs, they operate like
professionals. And these things are very narrowly circumscribed.
They're very focused. And in the abstract, you can complain about Big
Brother and how this is a potential program run amuck, but when you
actually look at the details, then I think we've struck the right
balance.